The Padma River is one of the longest rivers and it is believed to be an important spawning and feeding ground for riverine fish species of Bangladesh. This study was conducted from February 2013 to January 2014 and with a view to revealing the diversity of fish fauna in the river. A total of 71 species were recorded belonging to 10 orders, 26 families and 54 genera. The most dominant fish order was Cypriniformes contributing 28 species in 16 genera. Cyprinidae was most dominant family contributing 23 species in 16 genera. Four alien species were found. Twenty eight species have been considered threatened by IUCN Bangladesh. These fishes were belonging to the following categories, Vulnerable (13%), Endangered (18%) and Critically Endangered (8%). Comparing the results with the previous findings, it was revealed that the species diversity have declined in the Padma River over time. Considering all the findings it is concluded that the Padma River could be considered a refuge for conservation of threatened freshwater fishes of Bangladesh. The conservation efforts should ensure minimization of anthropogenic impacts, especially the fishing pressure and introduction of alien invasive species.

This study was carried out in the Mahananda River from January to December 2013 with a view to determining the seasonal variation and community structure of fishes along with some conservation issues. Monthly sampling was carried out using traditional fishing gears and fishes were identified based on morphometric and meristic characters. A total of 4082 individuals of native fish species were captured, analyzed and classified into 62 species belonging to 46 genera, 25 families and 9 orders. Cypriniformes and Siluriformes were the dominant fish orders represented by 19 species each and the most abundant family was Cyprinidae (14 species). In addition to indigenous individuals, 9 individuals of 2 exotic fish species (Hypophthalmichthys molitrix and Pangasius hypophthalmus) were also recorded. Among three sampling sites, S-1 was the most diversified in terms of not only the number of individual fish but also the number of species present represented by mean (±SE) individuals of 151.50±25.22 and species of 25.58±3.91. Three distinct fish groups of fish families were revealed from the cluster analysis of similarity. To improve the situation, control of illegal fishing gears, establishment of sanctuaries and legal protection for threatened species are recommended.

CitationJoadder MAR, Alam B, Siddique AB and Naim J (2016) Present status of fish diversity in the Beel Kumari in relation to fish sanctuary and fishing gears. Journal of Fisheries 4(2): 390-396. DOI: 10.17017/jfish.v4i2.2016.172 AbstractThe study was conducted on Beel Kumari beel (wetland) in Rajshahi, Bangladesh from October 2013 to September 2014. A total of 52 species of fish were recorded and the dominant species was Mystus tengara (Tanagra (9.75%). Exotic species like bighead carp (Aristichthys nobilis), silver carp (Hypophthalmichthys molitrix) and common carp (Cyprinus carpio) were also commonly found. Of the indigenous species, Ompok bimaculatus, Puntius sarana, Pseudeutropius atherinoides, Botia dario, Mystus aor and Chitala chitala were abundant, though these species were rare before the establishment of the fish sanctuary. Four groups of fishing gears i.e. net, trap, spear and harpoons and line fishing were found to use, among them 8 types of net, 7 types of trap, 4 types of spear and harpoon and 4 types of line fishing were recorded. Among these gill net contributed to the highest catch (32%) and push net was the lowest (6%). Most of the respondents (80%) were found to believe that their fish catch had increased considerably due to impact of fish sanctuary establishment and effective community based fisheries management approach employed in this beel.

This study described about the morphometric characteristics of Botia lohachata, collected from the Kompo River at Rajshahi , were studied for a period of four months from July to October 2014. Length frequency distributions, length-length relationships, length-weight relationship, sex ratio, Fulton's condition factor and fecundity of B. lohachata were studied in the present study. This is the maiden research conducted on B. lohachata in Bangladesh. The highest mean total lengths were 61.16±4.77 mm (combined sex), 63.80±4.79mm (female) and 58.17 ±3.30mm (male). Maximum 43.34% female fishes were belonging to the length category of 61-65 mm where as 61.41% male were belonging to 56-60 mm. Similar findings are also presented for standard length, fork length, body depth, dorsal length, pectoral length, pelvic length and anal length. Linear relationships were also studied among mentioned lengths. Strong positive correlations were observed in all cases. The highest mean body weight was weight 2.67±0.71g (October) in combined sex, this value was 3.10±0.59 in female (September) and 2.25±0.38g in male (September). Strong positive correlations were also observed between total length and body weight. Observed value of sex indicated that 54% specimens were female and remaining 46% were male. The value of chi square (x2) was 2.4 at 1 degree of freedom (p<0.005) strongly indicated that the observed sex ratio not differs significantly from the expected ratio (1:1).The Fulton’s condition factors In case of combined sexes, the highest condition factor 1.156±0.126 was recorded in month of October, female highest condition factor 1.190±0.136 and male highest condition factor 1.135±0.103. Journal of Science Foundation 2019;17(1):15-33